Listen
by valsoccerdawg515
Summary: Liz Kelly moved in with her childhood best freinds, Soda, Ponyboy, and Darry Curtise after her dad died. Losing a parent is hard, but they all know how it feels. Liz finds herself interested in something she hadn't been before her dad died, but knows the gang won't approve so she seaks help from the one, the only, Curly Shephard.
1. Chapter 1

Liz POV

It's hot outside. I can feel the sweat coming down my neck. I've been running for about and hour now and am thinking about calling it quits. I run religiously. On my way home I run past the house me and my dad used to live in. Just a month ago my dad died leaving me all by myself. I still remember waking up that morning and finding him. He was just gone, plain and simple. I guess that can happen to you if you have brain cancer. Either way it was and remains to be the worst day of my life.

I run until I'm in front of my home away from home. Well, now it is home. When my dad died I moved in with the Curtis brothers. Our families have been friends since... well, forever. The guys were like my brothers. When my dad died Darry insisted I live with them until I turn 18 and can move back to my old house. It's almost dark and I didn't tell anyone I left for a run so I hurriedly yanked the door open and stepped inside. The first thing I noticed was that it was a full house tonight. All seven of my guys were here! We all got along great. While I am closer to the Curtis brothers, I'm also tight with the other boys too. We are childhood friends after all. I'm 16, Johnny's age, and a year younger than Soda, Steve, and Dallas. Two-bit is 19, Darry is 20, and Ponyboy is 14.

"Hey Liz, where you been?" Soda asked from the couch. I knew he wouldn't be mad. It was Darry I had to worry about. "Well I went out for a run." I said looking around. Steve and Dally were playing cards on the floor, Two-Bit and Soda were on the couch watching TV, and Johnny and Pony were coming down the stairs laughing about something. I turned and headed into the kitchen for water. Darry was standing at the stove stirring whatever it was that he was making for dinner. "So you went for a run huh?" Darry asked turning around to face me. I could tell he had worried about it. "Yeah Dar, I did and I'm fine see?" I said doing a 180 spin in front of him. With that he was laughing. I couldn't help but laugh too. "Okay but let someone know before you go from now on alright?" he said turning to stir dinner again. "Sure Dar." I said walking out of the room.

I showered and changed into shorts and one of Mr. Curtis's old flannel shirts that Soda always wears. I slipped my tennis shoes back on and headed down stairs to see the guys. One thing about me, I always where tennis shoes. Ever since my dad died I just feel comfort knowing that if something happened I could just take off. The guys really hated it when I told them that was why I always wore them. "I'm not gonna let anyone mess with you, and if they try I couldn't take it if you just took off." Ponyboy had said acting older than he was. Even though he was two years younger than me, he acted and looked like he was my older brother. Not that we looked alike. He was just a lot bigger than me. I look like my dad. I have soft goldish red hair, and green-hazel eyes. All of the boys looked out for me since even before my dad died.

I grabbed my guitar out of the chair next to Johnny and headed out to the back yard with it. Last summer, Soda, Steve, and I built a fire ring out here and dragged an old couch next to it. I plopped down onto the couch. I loved it out here. Sometimes if nobody paid attention and I could get away with it, I would sleep out here under the stars, and next to the warm fire. I started playing. My dad taught me how when I was just seven years old. He was a musician and wrote music for a living, which trust me wasn't much. He taught me to play real well. I could feel him with me whenever I played. Music connected us. I sing too. We used to spend hours singing together. When I'm older all I want to do is play music for an audience like he did. I played for about an hour or so until I got too tired to do it anymore. I set the guitar down on the grass and lied down on the couch to watch the stars. After a while the lights inside went off. It looks like I'm in the clear to sleep out here tonight. With that I close my eyes and drift off next to the toasty fire.


	2. Chapter 2

Darry POV

At 6:00 in the morning my alarm goes off. I reached over the side of my bed and shut it off. I forced myself out of bed and into the shower. Next I got dressed and went to wake up Pony, Soda, and Liz. I stepped into the boy's room and stared at their sleeping forms under the covers. I walked over the bed and shook Soda's shoulder until his eyes opened. "Rise and shine" I said then left to get Liz up. She moved into Soda's old room after she moved in with us, but she rarely ever sleeps there. I usually find her on the couch or in a chair in the living room. As I suspected, she wasn't in soda's old room. I wandered out to the living room expecting to find her curled up on the couch, but the room was empty. I checked the kitchen and then the front porch, in case she was already awake. No luck.

I was worried now. I rushed to re-check her bedroom, but found it was just as empty as the first time I checked it. "What are you looking for?" Soda asked from the hall. "Liz," I said looking at him, "Have you seen her?" Worry showed in his eyes immediately. "No I haven't seen her since she got home yesterday." He said. Pony walked by us, having heard our conversation, mumbling, "I know where she is." He walked out the back door and into the yard. Soda and I followed behind him. After stepping out into our back yard I felt instant relief seeing that Liz was curled up on the old sofa next to a burnt out fire. "Found her." Pony said as he walked over to the couch and jumped on her. "Ponyboy get off uh me!" she squealed as he tickled her senseless. Soda chuckled and went back inside. I walked over to them and easily picked Pony up off of her. Like Soda, Pony laughed and went inside.

"Why in the world did you sleep outside?" I asked her not able to understand why she would willingly sleep out in the back yard. "I like it out here Dar! The fire was so nice and warm that I just didn't wanna get up and go to bed." She said still half asleep. She's so weird. "You're so lazy!" I joked, "No more sleeping outside, I almost had a heart attack when you weren't in the house this morning!" I told her more seriously. "Well..." she started but I cut her off. "Liz." I said. "Yeah yeah fine I won't go to sleep out here again." She gave in. "Good. Now go get ready for school, Steve should be here soon." And with that we both went inside.

Liz POV

After I showered, got dressed, and ate some breakfast, I sat on the front porch waiting for Steve to show up. He always walked with me and Pony to school. We walk together 'cause we're buddies, but I know it's also because the gang worries that Pony and I might get jumped on our own. I don't mind one bit walking with Steve or any of the guys, but I wish I knew how to defend myself incase I get into trouble when none of the guys are around. None of the guys liked the idea of teaching me how to fight, but come on! they can't always be around, and it's good to know about stuff like that.

"Mornin' Liz" Steve said walking up the porch steps. "Morning Steve!" I said back. He smiled and headed inside. I've seen Steve fight. I wish I could throw a punch half as hard as he can, but like I said, he would never give me any pointers. "Lets go!" Steve said coming out of the house followed my Pony and Johnny. I hopped up and joined them. It was only around four blocks to the school, so like a 15 minute walk.

"Is Two-Bit coming today?" I asked to nobody in particular. "Nope, he had a late night at Buck's last night. I wouldn't be surprised if he skipped the rest of the week." Steve answered. I laughed at that. Good ole Tow-Bit. We walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes until I became aware of a black mustang trailing behind us. Steve must have noticed it too because I could here him cursing under his breath. "What do we do?" Pony asked. "Play it cool here they come." Steve said standing in front of me. The car stopped on the side of the road and four socs jumped out and headed our way. Steve cursed again after seeing how many there were. I was getting nervous. If I new how to defend myself this wouldn't be a problem! "Hey greasers!" a fair haired soc spat at us venomously. They were all easily double my size. Just great, I had never been jumped before, people usually leave me alone. Dad always said I was just to pretty to beat up. Yeah ok dad, I thought while watching the socs surround us.

"Leave us the hell alone damn socs!" Steve shot back at him. "Hey, look at this pretty little thing." Another said grabbing my arm. I jerked away. "What are you doing with these greasers baby?" yet another boy asked. "Leave us alone alright?" I asked quietly. "No." the blonde one said and punched Steve square in the jaw. With that all of the boys started fighting. They all had their hands full with a soc so there was one left for me to deal with. Maybe if I live through this the guys will open their damn eyes and teach me how to fight. "Hello beautiful" a rather large soc said to me right before he punched me hard in the face. You're crazy if you think that didn't hurt! I stumbled backwards, but he grabbed me before I could run for it. "Oh no you don't!" he yelled turning me to face him. He punched me in the ribs three times causing me to double over in pain. He laughed and I took the opportunity to claw him good across the face. He yelled out in pain and punched me in the face repeatedly for what felt like hours but could only have been seconds until someone pulled him off of me and continued to beat the tar out of him. Remind me to thank whoever that was later. I was dizzy and well aware of the tilting ground underneath where I lay. After a couple minutes I heard the sound of the socs retreating.

Thank god. My head was throbbing and my ribs felt like they were on fire. My vision was fading in and out. "Liz!" I think I heard Pony call out. Then I felt hands on my shoulders. "Oh god! Look at her face!" I heard him say. Oh boy, I am not looking forward to seeing what I look like after this. "I'm fine." I mumble. Pony squeezed me tightly. "Thank god!" he said. "Can you stand up?" Steve asked. I wasn't entirely sure if I could or not but it was worth a try. Thankfully my vision cleared so I could see the guys clearly. I sat up to get a better look. Steve looked the least harmed with a busted lip and a small bruise on his cheek. Pony looked to have a real nice shiner and a small cut on his neck, and Johnny had a busted lip and a cut under his left eye. It was obvious that I got the worst of anyone seeing as I don't know how to defend myself!

I realized they were all staring at me expectantly. Oh yeah, I was supposed to be trying to stand up! Well here I go. With Ponyboy's help, I pulled myself up off of the ground. The second I was on my feet the world spun like mad and I could feel my body tipping sideways. I stumbled trying to regain balance and stay on my feet. "Liz!" Johnny yelped and caught me before I fell on my face. "I'm a little dizzy" I mumbled. Golly did my face hurt. "No kiddin'" Steve said looking at me worried. I could see the fire in his eyes though. He was angry. "Those damn socs! Hitting a girl just aint right! I'll kill em next time I see 'em I swear it! Just wait until Dal hears about this." Steve said. All three of Pony, Johnny, and I stiffened at the thought of Dallas's reaction to this. He was going to have a cow! "Great…" I said wincing at the pain in my ribs where Johnny's hands still held me.

"Here Johnny I got her." Steve said wrapping his arm around my waste. "You two go on to school, I'm going to take Liz here home to get cleaned up." he said to the Pony and Johnny. Pony looked like he was about to protest, but a warning glare from Steve changed his mind. "Don't you worry Liz; we'll get the soc who did this." Pony said lightly touching my bloody cheek. "You just go home and get some rest." Johnny said looking slightly angry as well. Wow, it takes a lot to make Johnny mad. With that Steve scooped me up and started walking back in the direction of the house. Any other day I would protest to being carried, but I know for sure that I can't walk right now. Just being in Steve's arms is making me so dizzy I think I might pass out. "Hey, you don't look so good. I'm so sorry that this happened. I'm gonna get you home, call soda at work, clean you up, and then you can sleep ok? Steve asked softly. I would have answered but the spinning in my head became to much and I succumb to the sweet bliss of unconscousness


	3. Chapter 3

Soda POV

Today's been pretty slow. I don't really mind though cause that means less work for me. I wadded up a paper into a ball and shot it at the garbage can across the store. The wad hit the wall behind the can and dropped to the floor, joining about ten other paper basketballs. This is why I never got into sports. As I was getting out from behind the counter to clean up the mess, the phone rang. "DX Station, how can I-" but the guy on the other end cut me off mid-sentence. "Soda, it's Steve. We have a problem man." Steve spoke sounding oddly worried. This automatically had me on edge because Steve just isn't the worried type. "What happened Steve?" I asked quickly. "Man we got jumped on the way to school, and there were too many of them to take care of all at once…" he stopped. "What! Is everyone okay?" he was really freaking me out. "Naw man Liz got beat up real bad and passed out cold. She was awfully dizzy Soda." He said and I could here the rage in his voice. "WHAT! Those socs beat on Liz? She's a girl! Is she okay?" I could feel fury pulsing through me. "I don't know Soda, you should come on home." With that I hung up. I raced back to my boss Jeff's office. I poked my head in and said, "Hey Jeff, man I'm really sorry but I got family trouble, Liz is hurt, I gotta split." I was hoping that by telling him it was Liz, who he loved, who was hurt that he'd let me go. "I'm so sorry to hear that you can go on and leave kid." He said looking genuinely sorry. "Thanks Jeff I owe you one man." I said racing out of the station.

Approaching the house, I flung the door open and was not ready for what was waiting inside. Steve was hunched over the couch where Liz lay bloody and bruised. He was dabbing at all of the blood on her face with a wet cloth. "Steve!" I said racing up to help him. "Man she's cut up, we gotta clean the blood off to see where it's all comin' from. There's just a ton!" he said frustrated. I grabbed a wet cloth and began to wipe blood off of her forehead. "Jesus.. I AM GOING TO KILL THOSE DAMN SOCS!" I yelled out in pure anger. "You and all of the other guys who are gonna flip their lids when they see her." Steve said, still hard at work bandaging her head. It looks like all the damage was done on her forehead. Steve wrapped a white gauze bandage around her head. She looks so small and fragile like this. I felt a tear slide down my face. I wiped it away when I heard the front door open and slam shut. "Where is she?!" a raging Dallas yelled walking our way. I nodded at her. He came up next to me and looked down at her with sad but furious eyes. "What messed up bastards would do this to a girl! She's just a kid damn it! I'm gonna kill them!" Dally yelled again. "Told ya." Steve said to me. He stood up having finished with her face. "Is there anything else?" I asked frightened at what I might hear. "Yeah guys you havn't seen the worst part yet…" he said leaning down and pulling up her shirt to show her stomach. I think I'm going to be sick. What the hell did those socs do to our baby!? Dallas hissed a long string of curse words. Her stomach was covered almost the whole way with black and blue bruises. "You think any ribs are broken?" I asked. "Dunno I didn't check. I don't want to hurt her." Steve admitted. "All the better to do it while she's still knocked out. I'll do it." Dallas said crouching down to her level. He felt her ribs and I could tell by the look on his face that there was something wrong. He stood back up. "Damn, she's got three cracked ribs." He said. I sucked in air at that. That's gonna hurt bad.

Liz POV

I opened my eyes all too aware of how badly my ribs and head hurt. My eyes searched my surroundings. I was on the couch in the living room. Steve must have brought me here after the fight. I put my hand up to feel my head and found that it was wrapped in a bandage. Oh great. My ribs were wrapped as well, and judging on how bad they hurt, I would say that I cracked a few of them. Uhg! I am so frustrated that I couldn't defend myself back there! This never would have happened! I sat up and the room spun. I don't care though cause I hear people talking in the kitchen, and I'd like a word with them. I got a glimpse of the clock, and it read 3:15. DANG! I was out all day. Pony and Johnny would be home from school any time now. Walking was proving to be harder than I thought it would be because the room was tilting back and forth pretty bad. I staggered into the kitchen and leaned up against the wall so nobody would bother me too much about being dizzy.

"Hey" I said and my voice came out tired from all that sleep I got today. Soda and Dally jumped up from their seats at the kitchen table. "Liz! Honey, I'm so sorry this happened to you!" Soda said rushing over to me. He gave me a gentle hug. "We are gonna get the punks who did this to you!" Dally said comin up next to Soda. "Guys, we need to talk." I said trying to sound confident. "So uh.. sit down and lets do this." I said. They both gave me weird but noticeably concerned looks and sat back down. I honestly don't think I can make it to the table without giving away how dizzy I am so I'm staying put. "Aren't you gonna sit?" Dal asked. "Nope." I said not bothering to explain. "Well go ahead then, talk." He said eyeing me suspiciously. "Okay, well as you both know I had a pretty rough. And uh- I know you guys don't er- like the idea of me fighting, but now surely you see that it would benefit me to know how to defend myself incase you guys can't help me. I think that today would have gone a whole lot different had I known how to fight back." I said searching their faces for an answer. Soda was looking at me funny but I could tell he didn't like the idea. Dal looked at me with a clear face and said, "No way in hell." And got up and went out into the living room. My mouth dropped open. "But Dal! Even after what happened this morning?!" I spoke up louder at him. "Yeah cause aint no way we're letting that happen again!" he said and was clearly done with the conversation. I looked at Soda with a pleading look. "Soda you understand right?!" He looked at me real sad and said, "Sorry Liz but I'm with Dally on this one. You don't need to be involved in fighting." I can not believe what I'm hearing! They really aren't going to teach me how to fight even after this!? I thought Soda would be the easiest to convince but apparently nobody is on my side!

He stood up to go to the living room but stopped in front of me. "You need to go lay down Liz you don't look so good." He said. I looked at him but didn't move. "Liz, don't be like this please? You're hurt pretty bad you need some rest now get movin'." He told me nicely. It was clear to me he wasn't leaving until I went to bed. I stood up straight and put a hand on the wall to balance myself. I took once step forward and the room shifted under my feet and I staggered and about fell. Soda grabbed me around the waist. "Whoa there! are you still that dizzy? Jeez they really got you in the head pretty hard." He sounded concerned but angry. He helped me up to bed. After I was all settle he kissed my forehead and said, "Get some more rest. Its all gonna be okay I promise." Then he left. Oh no Sodapop dear, this is far from over. When Darry gets home we are gonna have a serious talk about me fighting and I am not going to back down this easy next time! Besides, I thought to myself, if the gang won't help, I think I know just who will." I smiled and fell quickly asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Thank you damonadark-hunterfan69 for the review I really appreciate it! **

Liz POV

I got out of bed and changed into my running clothes. Walking down the stairs I can feel how sore my ribs still are from last week. Dal says I cracked a few of them. I spot my tennis shoes sitting on the floor in front of the couch and grab them. Plopping down onto the couch to put them on I think about all that happened last week after the fight. There was about a four hour long fight between me and… everyone else about teaching me to fight. Needless to say, everyone else won.

I'm extremely glad to be going running this morning. With the busted ribs and everlasting dizziness, I hadn't found much time to go in the past week. I feel good today though so I'm thinking an extra long run will do quite nicely. I haven't exactly cleared it with Darry, but I did tell a half-asleep Sodapop where I was going, so technically I did what he asked me to do. After stretching a bit I headed out the front door and into the street. It's a chilly morning and golden and red leaves litter the street. Fall is definitely my favorite season. I start out kinda slow. There is an aching in my torso that is going to be a pest I can already tell. I pick up the speed to a brisk running pace. I can already feel the stress draining from my body. Its like running is some sort of detox!

After about an hour I'm at the railroad tracks where I usually turn around, but today I think I'm going to go a little further and pay an old friend of mine a visit. I keep running through the train yard, which I was told to stay away from by Darry, and out the other side into a small neighborhood full of beat up houses and trailers. The neighborhood was crawling with guys from Shepard's gang. I know very well that Tim Shephard's gang is a force to be reckoned with but I need to see Curly and if that means dealing with a couple low life thugs then that's what I'll do. So far so good, though. It's pretty early and I'm willing to bet most of them were out so late last night that they won't be out and about for another five hours. I laugh at the idea of what Curly will look like when I get him up at the early hours of seven in the morning.

After running through the neighborhood, down to the very last street, I stop in front of one of the less beat up houses. It was small but it did the job. I went around back to the window of Curly's room and tapped on the glass until I saw movement from inside. The blinds sprung up towards the ceiling and a very grumpy and disheveled looking Curly appeared in the window. He looked at me for a second and then tilted his head to the side like he didn't know what to make of me tapping on his window. I waved him out so I could have a word with him. He sighed and turned around leaving his bedroom. Less than a minute later the back door opened up and Curly stepped out onto the porch. I made my way up to the porch and had a seat on one of the rusty lawn chairs. "Hey" I said. He lit a cigarette and looked at me with puzzled eyes. "Hey" he finally said after a couple puffs. "What brings you all the way over hear at such an ungodly early hour?" he asked. Curly was almost a year younger than me and I knew he used to have a crush on me when we were kids so I don't think he's too upset to see me here.

I was about to answer when he started talking again, "I heard what happened to you last week. That sucks, I can't believe those bastards hit a girl. Those bruises on your face must have been something last week. Heard you cracked some ribs too. My brother said he and Dal got the guys who did it pretty good." He smirked. I laughed uneasily, yeah Dally and Tim beat the tar out of those guys, and Soda and Steve lifted the hubcaps off of the nice ride they were in. "Well Curly, I actually came to talk to you about that." He gave me that puzzled look again. "Hear me out" I went on. "The reason I got so hurt was cause I don't know a thing about fighting or how to defend myself. The guys just won't let up and show me! You would think after last week they would understand but if anything they are more serious about it now than they were before! I know you and Tim showed Angel how to hold her own in a fight and I don't see why they won't do the same for me". I finished. He looked out into the backyard thinking about what I said for a minute before turning back to me. "So what you're trying to say is that you want me and Tim to show you how to fight?" he asked. "No! Not Tim! He would tell Dally the second he heard about it! Nobody can know but us. I was going to ask if you would teach me to fight in secret, that way the guys don't find out, and I don't get left defenseless if I get into any trouble again." I said looking at him with my best imitation of the puppy face Pony gives me when he wants something from me.

I could tell he was weighing his options. He knew he'd get his but kicked if the gang found out. He looked at me again, and then smiled. "Sure Liz, I'll teach you how to fight." Did he just say yes?! YES! I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders and jumped up to hug him. "Thank you so much! You don't know how much this means to me." I said then let go of him. He looked to be a little shocked by the sudden embrace but shook it off quickly and flashed me a smile. "Yeah no problem, when you wanna start this… lesson?" he said. "Um, how about this time next week? You know, when my ribs don't hurt so bad anymore?" I said lifting up my t-shirt a little absentmindedly. I saw his eyes widen and quickly pulled my shirt back down over the bruises. "Sorry…" I mumbled an apology. I'm sure he had no intention of seeing that. "No, its fine." He said with a suddenly darker attitude. "I'll meet you at the train yards at this time next week, same day okay?" he stood up ready to go back inside. "Yeah okay that sounds perfect, thank you again Curly." He just nodded and went back inside.

I turned and started the long run home. I couldn't keep the smile off my face though. I can't believe I'm going to learn how to fight! I'm not going to have to ever worry about getting hurt like this again. I won't need one of the guys to come with me when I want to go somewhere! It's going to take time but they will come around to the idea eventually. Not that I'm going to flat out tell them, but if I ever get jumped again I'm sure as heck not going to hide the fact that I can defend myself. I'm getting a little ahead of myself though since I don't even know how to hit anyone yet.

I ran up the front steps and into the house. I was hoping everyone might still be sleeping but that's not what it looks like. Darry was pacing in front of the TV, and Soda and Pony were on the couch. They all looked up at me when I came inside. "Where were you?!" Darry questioned me immediately. "I went running" I turned to Soda. "I woke you up this morning and told you where I was going." I said. He looked confused. "You did? Huh, I guess you did. I was half asleep Liz!" he said looking unhappy. "You are still hurt you should not have been out running!" Pony spoke up. I shot him a look. He, out of everyone, knows how it feels to need a good run. "I'm _not_ hurt anymore. It has been a week and I'm fine." I said with some finality. "I'll be the judge of that. Show me your stomach." Darry said looking all parental like. I sighed. "Can we not do this? I need a shower anyway." I said turning to head up the stairs. "Liz, will you please let me see your ribs? Please?" Soda asked putting a hand on my arm. I sighed again. You just don't say no to Soda. I lifted the hem of my shirt up so he could see. I heard a hiss from Pony. Soda's eyes looked my ribs over good before I dropped my shirt. "Now I know that has to hurt." Soda said looking me in the eyes. "Yeah they ache a little". I admitted. "Liz, I know you, and I know you like to run, but until those bruises heal up I don't want you running." Darry said calmer now than he was a minute ago. "I looked at all their faces. "Ok Darry, I won't go running again until they've faded." I said. Soda smiled. "Pinky promise?" he asked wiggling his pinky in my face. "Pinky Promise." I laughed as we joined pinkies. Good thing I had a week to let these bruises heal. Another good thing, I may have promised not to run, but I never said anything about fighting.


	5. Chapter 5

Liz POV

It was so early. I should be tired but the adrenaline coursing through my body won't let me feel anything but alert and ready. I was standing in the train yard waiting on Curly. I had probably two hours left until the guys would be waking up to notice I was not home. Curly better get here soon, or we aren't going to get anything done! I'm wearing red exercise shorts and one of Pony's long sleeved track t-shirts. I look around and see a couple of trains that aren't being used, garbage, empty benches, and a maze of train tracks winding each way on the ground. I jumped when I heard, "Hey Curtis. You ready to do this?" it was Curly. He looked ready to go, not tired like I had expected of him at this hour in the morning. I smiled at him and said "Yeah I'm good to go. Thanks again Curly." It looked like he may have blushed a tiny bit but quickly recomposed himself and put on the signature Shepard smirk. "No sweat. Here, wrap your nuckles in this so you don't bust any." He said tossing me a roll of white medical tape. With a closer glance at him, I see that his are taped too. He better not punch me with those fists.

I got my knuckles all taped up and ready to punch. "Ok, so where do we start?" I asked, not able to hide my excitement from him. He chuckled, "First things first, do you know how to throw or block a good punch?" I looked at him a second. Why would I have asked him for fighting lessons if I knew how to do that already? "No Curly, the guys won't show me remember? That's why I have you!" I said hoping he'd laugh or something. He smiled. "Yeah ok Curtis. I'll start you off with blocking." He said. "Ok." I said ready for anything. He showed me how to position my fists in front of my face as a starting position in a fight. "Ok now I'm going to come at you slow so you can practice blocking hits." I nodded, putting my hands up, and he slowly tried to punch me in the face which I easily blocked. "Good" he said and came at me from the other side. Again I blocked his hit with ease. Now he began to come at me a little faster. I blocked the first one but wasn't ready for the second one that came at me from the other side, and landed on my cheek bone. It didn't hurt since he wasn't trying to really hit me. "Okay, see you have to be quick to block continuous hits like that, or more than one at a time. Ready to go again?" I nodded once again and he started like last time, nice and slow and got faster and faster.

After about an hour or more of blocking I think I was getting pretty good at it! "How am I doing Curl?" I asked slightly out of breathe. "Good good, definitely better than when we started. Are you ready to start throwing some punches my way now?" he asked with a grin stretched across his face. I laughed at him. "Yeah teach me!" I said eager for this part of the session. "Ok, well to pack a solid punch you have to lean your body in with it and follow through." He went through the motions to give me a better idea of how it's supposed to work. I did it too to get a feel for it. He watched and corrected my form. After I got that down pretty well he told me to try and hit him. I know there is no way I'll actually hurt him, but I'm timid about hitting him at first. "Don't worry about it just do what I showed you." He encouraged, how out of character for him.

I stepped closer to him, pulled my arm back, and swung my fist forward as hard I as I could, putting my body into it like he told me too. He blocked my hit but his eyes widened. He let my hand fall and hissed, waving his hand around like it was on fire. I smirked. "Jesus Curtis! I thought you said you didn't know how to throw a punch!" he said half laughing but definitely surprised. Was it that hard of a hit? "I- Uh.. I don't know anything you haven't told me. I just really want to be able to protect myself or one of the gang if that situation ever presents itself." I said not sure how to explain the force of the hit. "Well you can fight by me any day. Damn! That was real good Liz. You will have to be able to continue to throw those punches throughout a fight though, you can't lighten up, because they will already have the upper hand with their size and overall strength that you lack." He said. "Gee thanks" I said. "Hey, it's the truth. You know it, and more importantly _they_ know it." he finished. "Don't you have to be going? Something about Superman, Soda, or Pone waking up and noticing you missing?" he questioned. I had totally gotten lost in the lesson. I forgot all about the guys! "Oh man I forgot! Thanks Curly! Same time tomorrow?" I asked while ripping the tape off of my hands. "Yeah, sure, see you then." I gave him a quick hug and darted off towards home. The guys should either be awake or just waking up, I hope for the later.

After about five minutes of all out sprinting, I arrived at the house and scrambled inside completely out of breathe. I listened for a second and heard footsteps shuffling down the stairs. I leaped onto the couch and spread out like I had been there all morning. A second later, Pony and Soda appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Pony looked at me and said, "Hey that's my favorite track shirt! You thief!" then flopped down on the couch nearly on top of me. "Do you really have to sit right on top of me Pone?" I laughed. "Yup!" he said and flopped down completely on top of me. We were both laughing. "Hey! What about me?" Sodapop whined, wanting in on the love. He got on the floor and pulled both of us down on top of him. We fell with a thunk. "Oh, you're gonna get it now Soda!" I yelled and tackled him while Pony tickled his sides. He was laughing like a mad man. We wrestled like this until Darry came down stairs and broke up the love fest so we could eat breakfast. All I can think about is how happy I am here with the boys, and how thankful I am to Curly Sheppard for helping me with what my brothers wouldn't.


End file.
